Ria's Strategy

Ria visited Vargas' house in the high-end residential area of Jaeburg in the afternoon.

According to his wife who came to the door, he had somehow managed to get up and was eating.

She firmly declined the wife's invitation to come inside, waiting in the foyer instead.

Meanwhile, she happened to meet Shizuna, who had been sleeping well into the afternoon. She was cute even when just waking up. Though the girl herself was quite frightened.

Her two younger brothers came to see the great woman warrior who had defeated their sister, but they were surprised and charmed by her unexpected beauty.

Before long, Vargas finished his meal and she brought the somewhat reluctant man outside.

They chose a quiet place to talk. In this town, that could only be the park.

"Well?"

Sitting down on the bench, Vargas promptly urged her on.

"You can't possibly be saying we're going back into the labyrinth already, the very day after?"

It should have been impossible, but doing impossible things was what Ria did. Vargas already understood that.

Of course, Ria did reckless things, but she didn't do the impossible. Or so she thought. Others' opinions differed.

"What kind of person do you think I am?"

"The personification of recklessness, impossibility, and thoughtlessness."

Harsh words. But she'd brought it on herself.

"Well, we're not going back into the labyrinth. We can even take a longer break if you want."

Ria said so. It was meant to show she understood common sense.

"Since next time we're going to conquer the Dark Labyrinth in one go."

However, she ruined it with her next words.

Vargas reluctantly nodded with an exasperated expression.

"I won't let you push things too far. I'll only go along with it to the point where absolutely no one dies."

"Of course. I won't let anyone die."

Comrades were important. Vargas, who had lost comrades many times in his youth, understood this deeply. And Ria also intended to protect those dear to her.

"Is that what you wanted to talk about?"

"No, there's something I wanted your opinion on as well."

Ria hesitated, wondering what order to explain things in. But it was probably best to start from the beginning.

"First, have you heard about the Imperial Capital's disappearance?"

"Ah, it's still a rumor. Though I believe it's a fairly credible one."

"The Imperial Capital disappearing means that in the Millennium, there's a possibility the human side could be destroyed."

Vargas' body trembled faintly.

Jaeburg was close to demon tribe territory. Once the Millennium invasion began, it would probably be swallowed up quickly.

Even aside from that, humanity had lost the majority of its population during each Millennium. In the battle three thousand years ago, apart from the southeastern island region and the Imperial Capital, you could say that organized human society had ceased to exist.

"I'll have to evacuate my family…"

Vargas muttered. Going further south should at least be less dangerous.

"It would be good to go to Casalia. I'll write you a letter of introduction. The Royal Capital has better defenses."

That much was within Ria's power.

"So here's the thing. To prevent humanity's destruction, we need the Dark Dragon's power."

"So that's why we're conquering the labyrinth? Dark Dragon Valis is a friend to humanity, but that doesn't mean she would actively fight against the demon tribe."

Two thousand years ago, she had formed a friendship with Militant Emperor Ryuke Riana. One thousand years ago, she became Founder Leyte Anaia's spouse. Through those connections, she had exercised tremendous power.

"That's where I come in. I should be able to negotiate since they're my ancestors after all."

She met Vargas' gaze as he looked at her.

"I haven't mentioned it until now, but my real name is Ryuke Riana Crystal Casalia. Though I'm illegitimate, I am Casalia's princess."

"Ah, I knew."

"… I see."

It wasn't strange that he knew. Not having said anything until now, he had probably just been feigning ignorance.

She had grandly introduced herself as a princess in Labyrinth City after all. With that information spreading here and considering Ria's abilities, it was easy to connect the dots.

After explaining, Ria felt reassured. She could indeed consult with Vargas.

"Labyrinth City's lord told me the Millennium would occur within ten years."

That too was information not easily disclosed. Moreover, the range was too broad.

"Ten years and one year are completely different things."

"Yeah, that's why I no longer think we have time to spare."

They had lost the Imperial Capital, and probably the Golden Dragon as well.

"A while back, the spirits made a huge commotion, didn't they?"

"That was… I see, so that was when the Imperial Capital disappeared."

All the way from the Imperial Capital to here, thousands of kilometers apart, the mages had detected an enormous amount of magical power.

If that much magic was used, it wouldn't be strange even for a Divine Dragon, this world's guardian, to disappear.

"I've been thinking about how to stop the demon tribe's invasion without the Imperial Capital."

Ria used a stick to draw a rough map of the continent on the ground.

"From the far east: the Giant Swamp, the Istria Kingdom, the Great Forest, the Holy City, Sacred Mountain Cyrus and the Magic City, the Mountain Range of Death, Casalia, clusters of small and medium cities, the Dark Labyrinth, and the Large Inland Sea."

Touching all of this was the permafrost, with the demon tribe's territory beyond it.

"The Giant Swamp will be fine since the Water Dragon is there. The Great Forest has the elves' great military strength. If the Holy City and Magic City coordinate, they should have sufficient war potential. Casalia is stable. The Dark Labyrinth itself is the Dark Dragon's domain."

Though Vargas wasn't too familiar with the continent's situation, he didn't interrupt. What Ria was saying was probably accurate.

"The Mountain Range of Death is a defensive barrier by itself, and since there's no history of the demon tribe invading across the waters of the Large Inland Sea, we can probably ignore that as well."

That left two places remaining.

"The problem is the Istria Kingdom and the small and medium cities around here."

"Right. Istria, which is currently in the middle of a civil war… is too far to do anything about. When the time comes, we'll have no choice but to leave it to the elves of the Great Forest. What we should focus on now is definitely this area. There are small and medium city-states and villages scattered about with no unified military force. Though their individual strength is quite considerable."

Ria tapped on the crude map.

The beastkin villages, the ogre villages, the dwarf villages, Labyrinth City, Jaeburg. There were other territorial states as well.

"The Manesh Kingdom has a Dragon Slayer."

"Officially, there are only supposed to be five kingdoms on this continent, but… well, whatever. What's necessary is to bring these scattered factions together."

"The Cordova Kingdom?"

Right, if things continued as they were, Cordova Kingdom, which Ria despised, might establish a major power on the continent's northwest edge.

"Setting aside likes and dislikes, the problem is that Cordova is a human-supremacist faction that rules by force."

They couldn't defeat the demon tribe without all of humanity, including demi-humans. Past history had proven that.

But even so, Ria thought.

If they were to be ruled by Cordova, the ogres might side with the demon tribe once again.

As for the beastkin, dog beastkin such as kobolds were already on the demon tribe's side. Fundamentally, the demon tribe was more tolerant of racial diversity than humans were. It wasn't something to laugh about.

"Wouldn't it be good for Casalia's domain to expand and encompass this area?"

In terms of tolerance toward other races, Casalia Kingdom was quite an excellent country, Ria thought. Her own nation though it was, her ancestors had done good work.

"I considered that too, but if Casalia tried to consolidate this area with its national power, I think Cordova would invade. Or rather, the reason Cordova hasn't openly opposed Casalia until now has disappeared."

Vargas didn't understand what Ria meant. He had thought the reason the two countries hadn't gone to war was simply because other nations existed between them.

"The Empire is gone. The military force that supported Casalia in emergencies is gone. If Cordova and Casalia fought now, I think Casalia would barely win, but either way both countries would be exhausted."

Yes, the Empire had been the keystone maintaining humanity's overall order.

The Luabra Kingdom in the southwest, though greatly diminished in power, still maintained its authority because of the tacit understanding that the Empire would support it in emergencies.

Things will be tough for that country from now on, Ria thought, returning to the matter at hand.

"So my plan is this: get Dark Dragon Valis to back us, create a union of ogres, beastkin, and city-states, ally with Casalia, contain Cordova's movements, and oppose the demon tribe."

It was a staggering declaration.

Unable to keep up, Vargas closed his eyes for a moment.

"… You're a princess so maybe it's only natural, but you could become a politician."

"No, no. Politics is much more tedious and mundane. What I'm talking about is strategy."

Having watched her father's work up close, Ria understood that. But even if it was strategy, this was grand strategy.

"But is something like that even possible? Essentially you're talking about creating one large new country. Whoever takes the lead, there'll be resistance."

"That's the thing…"

Even Ria had to think hard about it.

"First, I have an idea for uniting the ogres. The Ogre King and I have traded blows—we understand each other."

She had surprised Vargas yet again, but unaware of this, she continued thinking.

"I'm also acquainted with Labyrinth City's mayor, and I think he'd understand the significance of forming a union. For this city, Vargas, I want to leave it to you."

"Me!?"

Vargas instinctively shouted. Jaeburg was an oligarchy city-state. A select group of distinguished families rotated the position of mayor.

"I'm not saying you need to become a politician. Using Thunder's Fangs' reputation, I want you to explain the benefits of the alliance to the mayor. You're acquainted with him, aren't you?"

Vargas folded his arms and grumbled, but it wasn't like he didn't understand what she was saying.

He was indeed acquainted with the mayor; they'd even drunk together at a bar. The man wasn't softhearted, but he was shrewd when it came to profit.

"If we conquer the Dark Labyrinth, your reputation will rise even more. With your endorsement, the mayor probably won't be able to dismiss it easily."

"So meeting the Dark Dragon is also part of this. Well, I suppose I can at least make the introduction."

To get the mayor on board would require Ria to actually meet and speak with him. As a princess of Casalia, arranging an audience would be simple enough.

"Still, I think there'll be various other problems…"

"Even if there are problems, we can't get anywhere without moving forward."

Without strong determination in her eyes, Ria murmured with a sigh that said there was no other choice.

"Well, I've been wanting to visit a dwarf village, and I have business at a beastkin village too, and honestly the human nations are the bigger problem…"

"You've got it rough."

Compared to her, he had it easy, Vargas thought.

If the demon tribe invaded during the Millennium, what would explorers do? Since they weren't entities belonging to any nation, running away was an option. But guild regulations required forced mobilization during emergencies like when the city itself was attacked.

A demon tribe invasion was nothing if not an emergency.

And even if he could run, Vargas had no intention of fleeing.

He wanted his family to escape. But he himself would stay. To defend this town where he was born and raised. He would fight, and he would die.

Exploration aside, Vargas didn't think he would survive a war.

"By the way, this is unrelated, but there's something I wanted to ask too."

He had been curious for a while but had held back. But since Ria had opened up this much, he should be able to ask.

"How are you so strong? I'd thought for sure you were a reincarnator who had trained considerably in your previous life, but…"

Ever since losing to Ria, Shizuna had been depressed. It could be called good medicine for her, but he wanted to know the reason.

"Oh, that? Well, I suppose I can tell you now."

That meant she trusted Vargas.

"There are two reasons why I'm strong. One is what you just said—being a reincarnator. I studied combat techniques that had been passed down for centuries for about thirty years."

Vargas nodded in understanding. If that was the case, it was no wonder Shizuna couldn't match her. She must have trained considerably after reincarnating as well.

"The other reason is my Gift. That I don't need much sleep or rest, and that I'm resistant to poisons and curses, that's all thanks to my Gift."

"Your physical strength and toughness too?"

"Yeah. The Gift's name is 'Dragon's Bloodline.' I have the power of a Dragon. Though I can't say I've fully mastered it yet."

Ria answered readily. Hearing 'power of a Dragon,' Vargas was surprised, but indeed, a Dragon was not something humans could match. Only a hero could probably win against a Dragon.

"Your fixation on the Dark Dragon, is that related to your Gift too?"

"Un, well there's a sense of affinity, so I suppose so."

Though she also simply intended to ask for help since they were her ancestors.

"Among my companions, only Serge knows about this Gift. Please keep it secret for now."

"That kid? He seems to have a Gift too."

If you could use Identify magic, finding that out wouldn't be hard. However, Serge had acquired Read Resistance magic during their journey.

What Vargas found curious was that among her group, Ria seemed to rely on Serge the most.

For everyday matters she consulted Carlos and Lulu, and the one she doted on most was Maal. But when making important decisions, she always sought Serge's opinion.

And in fact, Serge's advice was often beneficial. Especially when encountering formidable enemies, he would use Identify magic with surprising speed to provide information. His judgment was too good to match his apparent age.

"Hmm, as for Serge, you'll have to ask him yourself. It's not something I should say."

That made sense.

After that, the two discussed conquering the labyrinth for a while.

They decided to resume in five days. From there, they would conquer the labyrinth in one push.

Since she was invited, Ria had dinner at Vargas' house.

Until then, she taught sword lessons to his sons in the garden.

His wife's cooking was delicious, and for the first time in a very long time, Ria was reminded of her mother's cooking.